Babushka's Doll

Polacco's illustrations are vibrant and energetic, a wonderful combination of the organic with the geometric. It's gorgeous to look at, but really, you must read this story if you have a four year old daughter. You hear a lot about the terrible twos, but nobody tells you about the f***ing fours, when kids often get demanding and try on selfishness for size. Not that I'm speaking from experience or anything. Sit down with that girl and read Babushka's Doll. Her eyes will be opened.

My children love this story, and I enjoy reading it. I particularly like the illustrations. Very accurate portrayal of rural Russia--the windows, the well... I have ordered more of her books, we enjoy this one so much.

"Children's Books > Literature > Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths > Multicultural" <p>This book's archetypal story elements (e.g., magic, a moral, intergenerational conflict) are indeed part fairy tale and myth. A young girl, overly demanding of her grandmother ("Babushka"), learns what it's like on the receiving end when her grandmother's doll comes to life and makes demands on the girl. This is not, however, typical Polacco because there's a subtle punitive quality to the doll's incessant demands and misbehavior: "'You didn't do it right," said the doll... Natasha began to cry. "I'm just a little girl," she said between sobs. I wish you were just a doll."'<p>However, I think that Palocco's evocation of a fairy tale (which often contain gruesome scenes, unlike the mild consequences here), and her warm, very colorful illustrations soften the doll's "vengeance." This is not "Chuckie." And in the end, her grandmother slyly tells her that she must have been dreaming (although we are led to believe that the doll really did come to life), and we are reassured that `Natasha turned out quite nice after all.'<p>Palocco's large, loopy illustrations are always a treasure, and here, the pencil, pen, and acrylic bring some enchantment and a sense of fun to Natasha's "lesson."

It is a book that is full of surprises. The biggest, most interesting surprise is when Natasha uses her grandmother's doll. It came to life and the doll was mean to Natasha. I loved the drawings. This story could be a lesson for us not to be mean to our mothers...

I like the book because it's not real but it seems like it could have happened in real life. It taught a lesson to Tasha. The lesson was you should realize what you're doing before you do it. Tasha didn't understand why she always had to wait for everything.